Tanaka Kikinzoku Kogyo K.K. Accredited as an Ordinary Member of the London Bullion Market Association

Friday, November 16th, 2012 - Tanaka Holdings Co., Ltd

Tokyo, Nov 16, 2012 -- (ACN Newswire) -- Tanaka Holdings Co., Ltd. today announced that Tanaka Kikinzoku Kogyo K.K., which operates the Tanaka Precious Metals' manufacturing business, was accredited as an ordinary member of the London Bullion Market Association (LBMA)*1, an international industry organization representing the OTC market concerning gold and silver, on November 12, 2012. [It was revealed on the same day during the opening remarks given by the Chairman of the LBMA for the Precious Metals Conference 2012 held by LBMA annually - this year in Hong Kong.]

Tanaka Kikinzoku Kogyo is the first Japanese company to be accredited as an ordinary member of the LBMA. With this accreditation, the Company will be able to vote on various issues deliberated upon in the general meeting and various committees of the LBMA, and nominate candidates for the Board of Directors and committee.

By acquiring an ordinary membership, Tanaka Kikinzoku Kogyo will be in a position to propose and participate in upgrading gold and silver markets, maintain and manage the quality of gold and silver prevailing in the market place and conduct activities aimed at further enhancing the influence of the Asian market in the industry.

Furthermore the Tanaka Precious Metals Group will be able to provide more secure and reliable products not only to the general public who deal with precious metals for asset building, but also to industrial users as corporate customers.

When the gold market was first liberalized in Japan in 1978, Tanaka Kikinzoku Kogyo became the first company in Japan to be accredited as a Good Delivery refiner *2 at LBMA, which is necessary for secure and smooth trading of gold and silver in the international market place for gold and silver. Since 2003 the Company, being the only LBMA Referee from Japan, have also been serving as one of the only five "Referees*3" evaluating other companies listed on the Good Delivery List in terms of melting and casting bar technology, assay capability, and has been contributing to maintain and manage adequate distribution of gold and silver while building a close relationship with the LBMA. This accreditation was brought about in recognition of taking the initiative in referee activities such as a contribution to put the first ever official reference material for Gold and Silver for instrumental analysis on the market by LBMA.

The LBMA is an international industry organization representing gold and silver bullion wholesalers operating globally out of London including central banks, individual investors, mining companies, refining companies and bullion traders, which establishes and manages the standards for gold and silver circulating on the London Gold Market and the London Silver Market, in addition to certifying companies and minting authorities that pass stringent reviews to be registered on the lists of authorized refiners. At present, membership includes 137 companies including trading companies, banks, refining companies, mining companies, bullion traders as well as consulting and analysis agencies in 22 countries (three companies in Japan, with the Company as an ordinary member and two other companies as associate member). The LBMA was launched in 1987 at the behest of the Bank of England to take over two organizations (the London Gold Market and the London Silver Market) established in the mid 19th century.

*2 Good Delivery Refiners List

Lists of companies accredited by the LBMA with necessary qualifications for trading on the world's gold and silver markets. 136 companies are currently registered on the lists (63 companies on the Gold List and 73 companies on the Silver List), and many of the world's markets and exchanges utilize these lists, effectively making the Gold list a list of companies able to conduct gold trading at a global standard. A review of certain standards (volume handled, ability to analyze gold and silver, gold bullion appearance, gold bullion manufacturing and weighing technology) set by the LBMA must be passed to receive accreditation.

*3 Referee

The five referees include Argor-Heraeus SA, Metalor Technologies SA, PAMP SA ,Rand Refinery Limited and Tanaka Kikinzoku Kogyo K.K. (Japan). Referees are assigned by LBMA to evaluate melting and casting bar technology and assay capability of registered companies for the purpose of maintaining the reliability of the lists authorized by the LBMA